UPDATE: TAB banking troubles continue after computer upgrade

Friday, March 2, 2012 – It’s been six days since the Transportation Alliance Bank of Ogden, UT, underwent a full computer system upgrade Feb. 26 that locked countless small-business truckers out of their accounts. They were unable to buy fuel, withdraw funds, or even check their balances.

While some say they are now able to log in to their TAB accounts by using the last four digits of their Social Security number, others say they are still unable to determine their accurate account balances because of the computer glitches.

OOIDA member Kia Goldberg of Cincinnati, OH, said she was able to fix the password issue on Sunday before many realized there was a password problem, but that she still has been having issues with her accounts since then. Her husband, Michael, was able to fuel in Arkansas this week, but the amount of $544 was deducted four times from their account, plus an additional charge of $551. They have no clue what that charge is for. She was able to get the charges reversed during the week, but Goldberg said they reappeared on her account when she checked her balance online on Friday.

“I am afraid to pay bills; I am afraid to do anything right now,” Goldberg told Land Line on Friday. “All of our automatic payments for services that were scheduled to go out on March 1 were denied. I am having to call them all today, but I really don’t know what to tell them.”

She said she is printing her accounts statements hourly because “phantom charges keep appearing.”

“Yesterday, an $847 auto loan payment was deducted from our account. We don’t have a car payment; then the day before that $387 was deducted for an auto loan payment,” Goldberg said. “At this point, it’s going to take a forensics accountant to figure out what my balance should be.”

She said another glitch in the system is that when she used the phone prompt to check her balance, she was told that her billing address does not match the address on file for her TAB accounts. The Goldbergs have lived at the same address for 16 years, but she said that when she goes online, she can’t even see her address to verify that the address is correct.

OOIDA member James Dean of Anamosa, IA, had two drivers stranded earlier this week in Indiana and Kentucky. He told Land Line he was able to get them fuel by using TCH checks, but he only got six access codes for fuel because he thought his account issues with TAB would be resolved by now.

“I know about what I had in my account, but the bank has no idea,” Dean said. “It’s still a mess, and my drivers are going to need to get fuel again soon.”

Eva Rees, supervisor of the consumer credit and compliance department for the Utah Department of Financial Institutions, told Land Line on Friday that her office is aware of the problem and has been in contact with TAB officials nearly every day since the conversion. She said she has received between 50 and 60 calls this week, ranging from drivers under loads with no fuel to owners of small trucking companies who were unable to pay their drivers this week because they ran their payroll through TAB.

“I think the real problem is that there are still some truckers out there who can’t get fuel, and they are stuck,” Rees said. “That’s a really big issue because time is money for truckers.”

On Friday, Eric Myers, director of marketing for TAB, told Land Line that the PIN-based transactions (ATM and debit processing) were “completely functional.”

“Our online software provider is resetting locked passwords multiple times a day so that those locked out only need to follow instructions on the website and do not need to call in,” Myers said. “We have been and are continuing to address the individual account issues that are common in the great, unique industry of trucking.”

He said TAB customers who are still having issues should email their questions to tab.info@tabbank.com because call volume was still high on Friday, March 2.

“If people can give as much detail as possible via email, it will help our service be most efficient,” Myers said.

On Friday, OOIDA member Jonathan Taylor told Land Line that he was contacted by a TAB official who was able to fix his account after he was stranded on the Ohio Turnpike on Thursday, March 1, with no fuel.

“I knew I had money in my account because I had just deposited money in the account to buy fuel,” Taylor said. “It’s a relief to know my problem has been fixed.”

Rees said she hadn’t received any complaints from TAB customers since Friday morning, so she said she hopes the bank has got things “back on track.”

“It’s been a real problem,” she said. “I wish they would have run the old system with the new one until they made sure the new one wasn’t going to have any problems.”